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Pork Producers Encouraged to Re-Evaluate Biosecurity

FarmScape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council
and Sask Pork.

CANADA - Manitoba Pork is encouraging the province's pork producers to re-evaluate and step up biosecurity in the wake of the latest confirmed cased of PED, writes Bruce Cochrane.

Over the past month nine swine operations in southeastern Manitoba have been confirmed infected by Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea including six within a five kilometer area and three outside the original five kilometer buffer zone, two of which are linked to that zone by pig movements.

Mark Fynn, the Manager of Quality Assurance and Animal Care Programs with Manitoba Pork, encourages producers to reassess biosecurity and maintain close contact with their herd veterinarians for advice on enhancing biosecurity.

Mark Fynn-Manitoba Pork

Back in 2014, when we initially saw PEDv pop up in the province we were looking at what happened down in the US as far as how it spread around.

It basically spread like wildfire and ended up affecting half of their herd basically.

At the time we were thinking, is that something that is going to happen here and we've proven year after year that we do have cases here and there but we're able to biocontain it.

We're able to clean up the sites and get them back to a status where they can ship pigs out of their facilities knowing they don't have the virus so there is hope in these things, being able to biocontain them and that our biosecurity practices for the vast majority of people works.

It's a little disheartening to see the recent outbreak and how the virus has moved around in that particular area.

I'm very disheartened by it but there is light at the end of the tunnel and let's just make sure we're doing everything we can as farmers to make sure it doesn't get into our barn and we don't have to deal with these issues because, let me tell you, it's a very stressful time to be involved in those things.

You don't want to see animals die, you don't want to see animals getting sick and it's worth putting in that extra time and effort to make sure your biosecurity is perfect.

Mr Fynn says the situation is a reminder of the importance of those biosecurity practices.